Company marks June 21 World Solar Day by working to make solar energy
more widely usable, in combination with storage and communications
technologies

June 20, 2014 08:07 AM Eastern Daylight Time

KYOTO, Japan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kyocera Corporation (NYSE:KYO)(TOKYO:6971) announced that its total
accumulated production of solar modules since 1975 has exceeded the 5
gigawatt (GW) milestone. For comparison, 5GW of solar modules would be
sufficient to supply individual 3.5-kilowatt PV systems for more than
1.4 million homes. In the current fiscal year (April 2014 to March
2015), the company is targeting annual production of 1.4GW, up from
approximately 1.2GW in the previous fiscal year.

Kyocera's rapid increase in solar production in recent years has been
spurred by rising global demand for renewable energy resources. Solar is
becoming an attractive solution for countries, businesses and consumers
who want to reduce their impact on the environment and dependence on
coal and nuclear energies. This has become most evident in Japan over
the past few years, where an aggressive feed-in-tariff program launched
in July 2012 has seen an unprecedented rise in the adoption of solar.
Kyocera has also taken proactive measures to further its solar business
by becoming an independent power producer.

Some of the larger solar installations using high-quality, efficient
Kyocera modules include:- Kagoshima Nanatsujima Mega Solar Power
Plant: a 70 megawatt (MW) solar field in Kagoshima Bay, one of Japan's
largest solar power plants.- AV Solar II: a utility-scale
installation in Arizona, U.S.A., using 25MW of Kyocera modules.-
U.S. Light Energy: 9.4MW of installations in New York State, U.S.A.,
financed by Kyocera.- Thai PV Program: Solar farms at 35 locations
totaling approximately 260MW.- Salamanca and Dulcinea, Spain:
Kyocera modules power Planta Solar de Salamanca (13.8MW) and Planta
Solar de Dulcinea (28.8MW).

Kyocera's solar production will expand even further if a
recently-announced concept near Nagasaki, Japan, comes to fruition. Five
companies including Kyocera have reached a basic agreement to
investigate the possibility of operating a 430MW solar power project on
the island of Ukujima, which would be the largest in the world to be
implemented on agricultural land. The project plans to utilize
approximately 1,720,000 of Kyocera’s high-output multi-crystalline
silicon solar modules to create a 430MW system that would generate an
estimated 500,000MWh per year.

Kyocera, originally a producer of fine ceramics, began researching solar
energy in 1975 soon after the first oil crisis. With approximately 40
years’ experience in the solar industry, the company has expanded its
solar energy-related business to include not only the production and
supply of solar modules, but also the construction, operation and
maintenance of mega-solar power projects.

Furthermore, Kyocera supplies lithium-ion batteries for power storage,
which can be combined with solar power generation to supply electricity
at night or during blackouts. Based on its expertise with information
systems and telecommunication services, the company also markets Energy
Management Systems (EMS) in Japan, which allow real-time monitoring of
power usage and contribute to optimal control of energy in homes and
commercial facilities. By combining solar power generation with storage
and communications technologies, the company is working to make solar
energy more widely deployed throughout the world.

Kyocera’s business development has been driven by the company’s strong
awareness of the importance of renewable energy. As we mark World Solar
Day on June 21, the company continues to develop its energy business
toward achieving a clean, sustainable society.

About
KYOCERAKyocera
Corporation (NYSE:KYO)(TOKYO:6971) (http://global.kyocera.com/),
the parent and global headquarters of the Kyocera Group, was founded in
1959 as a producer of fine
ceramics (also known as “advanced ceramics”). By combining these
engineered materials with metals and integrating them with other
technologies, Kyocera has become a leading supplier of electronic
components, printers, copiers, solar power generating systems, mobile
phones, semiconductor packages, cutting tools and industrial ceramics.
During the year ended March 31, 2014, the company’s net sales totaled
1.45 trillion yen (approx. USD14.1 billion). The company is ranked #531
on Forbes magazine’s 2014 “Global 2000” listing of the world’s
largest publicly traded companies, and was named as the world’s No.1
manufacturer of advanced ceramics in the latest ranking by Ceramic
Industry magazine.